Riding Shotgun

By Charles de Lint

Marshall Coe’s shiftless, troubled life has led to tragedy. In this riveting novella, he’s suddenly given the chance to go back in time and fix his one big mistake, but Marshall finds that altering history has unexpected consequences. Caught between worlds alongside a young woman with an equally difficult past, they discover that sometimes things happen for a reason.

“Riding Shotgun” first appeared in Flights, edited by Al Sarrantonio (Roc Books, 2003). Copyright (c) 2003 by Charles de Lint. It’s also available in the Muse and Reverie collection.

Reviews

The standout for me, though, [from de Lint's collection, Muse & Reverie] is “Riding Shotgun,” which should just be about the long-held guilt of a brother who was with his sibling in a tragic car accident, but becomes a ride into the past, and then an alternate future that reveals things that turn any preconceived notions you have completely on their heads. De Lint surprises with “Riding Shotgun,” and adds a sense of urgency to a tale that seems destined for cliché, and instead becomes a shocker. Good stuff.
—Bookslut

Riding Shotgun [...] has honestly become one of my favorites. About every year or so, I pick it back up and reread it. It's about life changing events and the first time I read it, I felt all funny inside. Then I read it again a few months later. Then another year after that, I read it a third time. That being said, every time I read it, I am more and more in awe of the story, of the way it was put together that just makes me wordless. Even writing this, as I don't write too many reviews, I am struggling to put together the words to explain how much I like this story and why you should read it. I highly recommend it to everyone I know.
The story starts out with you meeting the main character, a former alcoholic who has just inherited his estranged, deceased father's farm. He hadn't been back there since the death of his younger brother. Even though he sold the farm, he decides to go for one last visit. That's when things start getting weird. It's a story about how things we regret might have been for a reason, its a story about changing those choices that we regret.
I hope this makes you pick it up. I know I will be rereading it again soon
—Goodreads reader

Charles de Lint is the modern master of urban fantasy. Folktale, myth, fairy tale, dreams, urban legend—all of it adds up to pure magic in de Lint's vivid, original world. No one does it better.
— Alice Hoffman

Charles de Lint writes like a magician. He draws out the strange inside our own world, weaving stories that feel more real than we are when we read them. He is, simply put, the best.
— Holly Black

De Lint is probably the finest contemporary author of fantasy
—Booklist, American Library Association
Unlike most fantasy writers who deal with battles between ultimate good and evil, de Lint concentrates on smaller, very personal conflicts. Perhaps this is what makes him accessible to the non-fantasy audience as well as the hard-core fans. Perhaps it’s just damned fine writing.
—Quill & Quire

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charles de Lint
• Release date: Apr 2, 2015
• ISBN: 9780920623602

Charles de Lint

Charles de Lint and his wife, the artist MaryAnn Harris, live in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. His evocative novels, including Moonheart, Forests of the Heart, and The Onion Girl, have earned him a devoted following and critical acclaim as a master of contemporary magical fiction in the manner of storytellers like John Crowley, Jonathan Carroll, Alice Hoffman, Ray Bradbury, and Isabel Allende.

Book preview

Riding Shotgun

by

Charles de Lint

Copyright © 2003 by Charles de Lint

Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

for MaryAnn

- 1 -

I wasn’t surprised to learn that my father had died. He would have been seventy-two this winter and he’d always lived hard—I doubted that had changed after I left the farm. What surprised me was that I was in his will. We hadn’t spoken in twenty-five years. I hadn’t thought of him, except in passing, for maybe half that time. If you’d asked me, I would have said he’d leave his estate to a charity like MADD, considering how it was drunk driving that changed all of our lives.

I missed the funeral. There are a lot of Coes in the phonebook, so it took the lawyers a while to track me down.

When they told me he’d left everything to me, I authorized them to put the farm up for sale, with the proceeds to be split between MADD and the local animal shelter. Dad never much cared for me, but he always did have a soft spot for strays.

I could have used the money. I’m a half-owner of a vintage clothing and thrift shop in Lower Foxville and there always seems to be more money going out than coming in. But I knew it wouldn’t be right to keep this unexpected inheritance.

Alessandra was good about it. There are things we argue about, but how we deal with family isn’t one of them.

We’re not exactly a couple, but we don’t see other people either. It’s hard to explain. We met in AA and we’re good for each other. Neither of us have had a drink in fifteen years—sixteen for me, actually.

We have a pair of bachelor apartments in the same building as the store. Ours isn’t a platonic relationship, but neither of us can sleep with someone else. Alessandra gets panic attacks if she wakes and there’s someone in bed with her.

For me, it just makes the bad dreams worse.

- 2 -

We open late on Mondays, so one fall morning after the farm’s sold, but before the closing date, Alessandra and I drive out to have a look at the place. Alessandra wouldn’t have come at all, but I don’t drive anymore and Newford’s public transport system stops at the subdivisions that are still four or five miles south of the farm.

I haven’t been here in twenty-five years, I say as we pull into the lane.

I see the farmhouse ahead, surrounded by elms and maples in their fall colours. The barn and outbuildings lie behind the house, the fields yellow and brown, the hay tall. You know how they say you can never go back, or how everything looks smaller if you do?

As we drive up the lane, everything looks exactly the same.

I hadn’t spoken to him in that long, either, I add. To my father, I mean. Not once.

Alessandra nods. She knows. It’s not like we haven’t shared war stories a hundred times before. Late at night when the darkness closes in and a drink seems like the only thing that will let us sleep. Instead we talk.

She pulls up near the house and shuts off the engine.

So what am I doing here? I ask. Why would he want me to have anything?

I wouldn’t know, Marshall, she says. I never met your father.

And wished she’d never met her own.

I nod. I wasn’t really expecting an answer. The question had been pretty much rhetorical.

Do you have the key for the house? she asks.

That makes me smile. I’d forgotten about that. So some things have changed. Back when I lived here, I can’t remember us ever

Reviews for Riding Shotgun

[baronessz · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Ok in the book it asked me to review it on SMASHWORDS. But I couldnt without buying the tale over there..and having just read it I'm settling for mentioning SMASHWORDS as a place to go for those titles we see "unavailable" for, or perhaps that dont come up in a search or three. Seems like a very cool site, didnt look at it long enough to begin to compare it to scribed tho it does have some free and some paid books. Not sure quality on any.

As for the story. I've rarely read a story by Charles DeLint that I didnt love. I dont always like the way they turn out, they almost always leave me wanting more, wishing for another chapter or five.

This was no exception. It was a little less of a stretch of the imagination than some of his things. But that may be ONLY because he has stretched my imagination already so that things like this will fit.

If you havent read this yet, it is unlikely to bore you and is a quick read. At the very least it will make you think, and perhaps hope, and how much higher praise can I give a 60 page story.
If you found this enjoyable, interesting or thought provoking,
I suggest you read everything by this author you can get your hands on.

I'm not usually one for anthologies. charles de lint is the exception , particularly when the anthology is set in his favorite fictional city. His full length books are astounding. i began with either spiritwalker or moonheart whichever comes first inthe two book cycle, tho they can be read independently.

His characters who often flit from story to story like bit players when the dont have a starrig role, all have become beloved friends.

I me ne characters today in this story.

Trader is provavly the closest to this story you will find in a full length book. like this o not trader is wonderful.

I just cant list every of his books. I'm thrilled to find some here. I love anything to do with the crow girls, Jilly, jack, geordie and too manyothers to list. but those are a few.

If charles DeLint is new to you and you enjoy urban fantasy, or even if you are just beginning to find it it through his works (I did) Jump in with both feet and without delay!

I hope you read this Mr. DeLint. You inspire me to return to writing myself..tho you'd not know me by this name if you knew me at all.